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A Simple Guide To Refurbished Samsung Galaxy S21 

Samik Ghoshal

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31 May 2024 |

Smartphones

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Buying a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S21 sounds like an easy peasy deal. However, it is much more complex than you can imagine.

This is where we step in. We would be helping you out to makr the right choice with ease. With that note, let us dive right in.  

Samsung Galaxy S21 Series Overview 

Samsung is probably one of the only brands in the phone market that could directly challenge the dominance and monolithic stance of Apple. Samsung spearheads the innovation cycle when it comes to the Android side of the discussion. 

Samsung Galaxy S1 is a culmination of that endeavor. Samsung Galaxy S1 is a series of high-end phones that Samsung released back in 2021. The series is the successor of the S20 series. 

Given that this phone is just the last generation, these are highly sought-after phones in the refurbished market. But the biggest question lies about their viability. Is it viable to buy refurbished Samsung Galaxy S21 series phones or not? 

Stick around to find out.  

Lineup 

The Samsung S21 lineup originally consisted of three devices: S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra. However, the company decided to introduce another edition named FE about a year later. This shows the overall popularity of the device. 

Out of all the four phones, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is the least expensive phone. This position was initially held by the standard edition. Subsequently, the S21+ was the mid-range variant that offered the best of both worlds kind of deal.

Meanwhile, the S21 Ultra is the flagship model of the series with the highest price tag and beefiest specifications.  

This comprises the Samsung Galaxy S21 lineup of phones.  

Technicalities 

Even if you are planning on buying a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S21 phone, you should never let the specifications be on the backburner. Instead, you must always strive to understand these technicalities. 

To make things easier for everyone, we have broken down the technicalities into small sub-sections. So that you can easily understand the different aspects of these amazing phones.  

With that note, let us dive right in and learn more about the technical aspect of the refurbished Galaxy S21 Series of phones.  

Design 

Design is probably one of the most prominent aspects of any phone. Having an iconic look and feel to your product can truly propel a phone to the heights of popularity.

Take iPhones, for example. The design has become so iconic that many companies are looking to recreate it. 

Samsung Galaxy S21 series shares a lot of its design choices with its predecessor. Like its predecessor, these phones come with an Infinity-O display with a circular notch for the camera.  

The lower variants of the series, S21 and S21 FE, feature a reinforced polycarbonate back panel. Meanwhile, the pricier variant of the phone features a Gorilla Glass back panel. As a result, the phone looks and feels different.  

Samsung understands the appeal of aesthetics. As a result, they have made a point of releasing the phone in a host of different color variants.  

Chipset 

The next most important aspect of the phone is the chipset or the System on the Chip (SoC). The Korean and another Asian model of the phone featured an Exynos 2100 SoC. This allowed the phone to reach its true potential.  

Meanwhile, the North American variant of the phone featured a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. Therefore, you need to be careful about the variant that you are getting. Otherwise, both variants are equally important and popular.  

The overall quality of the chipset is good and truly adds to the overall list of USPs of the phone.  

Display 

Here is a detailed rundown of the specifications of the displays.  

Storage 

Samsung understands the importance of convenient storage options. As a result, the brand has spent time and energy to bring the the best storage variant for you.

Since there is more than one phone in the series, going one by one would be a tad tedious. 

Hence, here is a simplified table to help you learn more about the storage variations that are available. 

Battery 

Before we delve deeper into this chapter, we would like to clarify something. Batteries are the fastest depreciating assets.

Therefore, whenever you are discussing batteries, you need to remember that these figures might not be 100% accurate in your case. 

With that being said, Samsung did something amazing with the S21 lineup. S21 features a 4000 mAh battery, S21 FE features a 4000 mAh battery, S21+ features a 4800 mAh battery, and S21 Ultra contains a 5000 mAh battery.  

The battery packs are super powerful and support modern features like fast charging, Qi inductive charging, and the capability of charging the device with other wireless charging compatible devices.  

Connectivity 

Connection is one of the fundamentals whenever you discuss cellphones. A smartphone without proper connectivity is just a piece of plastic that is of no use. Therefore, it is very important to assess a phone’s overall connectivity. 

Thankfully, Samsung did a great job of keeping the device connected. Each phone of the series comes equipped with a 5G SA/NSA network. This allows seamless connectivity across any network area.  

Apart from the basic network support array, the phone featured a Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. Therefore, you will not face any problems when it comes to the connectivity front.  

However, a phone usually starts acting up if it hits a certain age. Therefore, if you are going for a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S21, you should understand that you might encounter some problem 

Camera 

Like most other companies, Samsung is trying to fit their flagship phones with the best camera array. As a result, expect your Samsung Galaxy S21 to come with an amazing camera array. 

Here is a detailed rundown of the camera array that you can expect to see in the S21 series of phones. 

Software 

The first three S21 phones were shipped with Android 11. However, Google Mobile services along with Samsung One UI created a special software array that was aimed towards seamless integration of software as well as hardware.  

Samsung S21 FE was supposed to be released in same software generation. But duye to delays, the phone was released on Android 12 architecture.

Apart from the software array, the device comes with advanced device protection system called the Knox. This enhances the overall protection level of the software array. 

Currently, the phone is running on Android 13 and One UI 5 update. This update really unlocked the phone to its true potential. As a result, make sure that your refurbished Samsung Galaxy S21 is updated and comes with an Android 13 update.  

General Reception 

This is something most tech writers would not be writing willingly. However, reception is a key aspect of  discussion. This is solely because the studying the general reception should be seminal in understanding how a phone is received by the population.  

All in all, the phone was well-received and was truly one of the flagship phones of its generation. As a result it was often lauded as one of the highest selling phones in the market.  

Even though the general reception was very good. Some critics pointed out that there were some problems that persisted even after several major updates.  

Common Refurbished Samsung Galaxy S21 

As it has already been pointed out, Samsung Galaxy S21 was a phenomenal phone to say the least. However, that does not mean that it was free of any flaws.

In fact, refurbished Sasung S21 users have clearly come forward with plethora of complains that they have against the phone.  

In this section, we will be extensively discussing some of the key points that are needed to be discussed in order to get a proper lay of the land.

But I have to also point out that it is not possible to find out the problems that can actually plague a refrurbished phone user. Therefore, chances are that the problem you are facing is not listed.  

Here we go! 

Samsung Notes Not Working 

One of the major problem that many people noted was the Samsung Notes malfunction. Several users pointed out that the popular note taking application, Samsung Notes, fails to start up.

This is primarily a software problem that needs to be sorted accordingly. The best way to deal with the problem is to factory reset the phone.  

Notification problem 

This is another problem that most refurbished Samsung Galaxy S21 users have pointed out. In most cases, this problem starts after a software update. This is purely a software problem that can be addressed accordingly.  Hard resetting your phone can actually enable you to solve this problem.

However, please do not hard reset your phone if you have never done it before. Otherwise, you might end up dealing more damage than fixing.  

Freezing 

Device freezing is practically the bane of existence for a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S21 user. As per the internet, this is one of the biggest and most annoying problems that people face from time to time. This is a complex problem to deal with.

It could be due to software as well as hardware. Therefore, it is important to determine the real cause. In case of a software-driven freezing, the only solution is to reset the phone.

However, hardware-driven problems are more difficult to bypass. Hence, you need to assess the problem before you start looking for solutions.  

Touchscreen Error 

Finally, the most common problem that you can run into is touchscreen error. This is a very common problem in older or refurbished products. This is primarily a hardware problem that needs to be fixed accordingly.

However, screen problems could be due to water damage as well. Therefore, assess the problem before you make an effort to solve it.  

The Final Thought 

In summation, that is all there is to owning a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S21. If you have a financial constraint and want a functional phone that will help you get your work done on a daily basis.

Otherwise, going for a phone that was released three years back does not make any sense. But each to its own. Keep following our page for more such content. 

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